Irvine Lake trout trolling "on fire"; 6-8 bass tops tourney
Very good trout action was on tap at Irvine Lake, reported Jimmy Getty at the Pro Shop. "The trout trolling is on fire", observed Getty. "Those who know how to troll or fish bait deep can really whack them right now."

Trout trollers are doing best with 3 to 6 colors of leadcore line, downriggers set at 20 to 30 feet. Favorite lures include cop car-color Luhr Jensen Needlefish or firetiger-color Rapala Jointed J05's.

Bait dunkers are advised to fish from 15 to 30 feet down with the usual Power Bait, Power Mouse and nightcrawler offerings. Most trout are in the 2-pound category, with a few larger fish to 10 pound keeping things interesting. Good catches are being made off the west shore and near the dam.

The Friday Night Bass Tournament was a resounding success, with 49 teams finding good action on mostly 2-pound class largemouth, and a 14-pound limit with a 6-8 kicker took home the top prize. Fish were reported at depths of 0 to 15 feet, hitting on dropshot-rigged plastics, spinnerbaits and crankbaits fished around rocky points. Some bassers report releasing 20 or more fish per day, with the surface water temperature at 73 degrees.

Catfish continue to stir, with a nice 9-2 whiskerfish topping what were mostly catches consisting of 2 to 4-pounders. Best baits were chicken liver and nightcrawlers fished in boat dock cove and the back of the flats.

Crappie are hitting on white Atomic Tubes and dropshot-rigged 2-inch white Gulp! Minnows at 15 feet. Try near docks and Sierra Cove for mostly hand-size slabs and a few to 1.5 pounds.

The Kids Lagoon is still kicking out excellent catches of trout to families with children age 12 and under. Excitement is already starting build for the catfish season opener on June 12, when 10,000 pounds of channel catfish will be stocked to supplement the lake's abundant resident population of channel and blue cats.

Outstanding catches of the week at Irvine Lake included:

- Adelso Estrada of Wilmington, 10-10 rainbow trout on Power Bait at Woody's Cove
- Hubert "Kewlwhip" Zamara of Long Beach, 9-7 rainbow trout on a nightcrawler at the west shore
- Joshua Williams of Compton, 9-2 channel catfish on mackerel at the flats
- Richard Thomas of Lakewood, 6-8 largemouth bass [released] on plastics at Rocky Point
- Frank Wong of Orange, 5-4 largemouth bass [released] on plastics at red clay cliffs
- Dennis Saiki of Orange, 4-10 largemouth bass [released] on plastics at Sierra Cove